NCJ Number
149219
Journal
Journal of Family Violence Volume: 2 Issue: 4 Dated: (1987) Pages: 351-363
Date Published
1987
Length
13 pages
Annotation
This statistical study examines child sexual abuse committed by juvenile sex offenders.
Abstract
The sample population consisted of 37 juvenile sex offenders ranging from 6 to 17 years. Many of the subjects were from broken homes; in fact, some had been associated with protective services since birth. The assigned case worker completed the investigation instrument for each juvenile. The results indicated that in two-thirds of the cases, the juvenile had committed more than one sexual offense. The most common offenses were fondling (51 percent), oral intercourse (30 percent), and vaginal intercourse (22 percent). Verbal threats, the threat of physical force, and use of physical force were the most common ways of coercing victims. Victims ranged in age from 3 years to adulthood (with the victim usually being younger than the offender) and were often family members. Once the offense was discovered, the cases were referred to the State's Attorney, the police, or (most often) counseling. Significantly, a vast majority of the offenders had been victims of abuse, sexual abuse, or neglect themselves. Therefore, the study pinpoints two primary areas of early intervention: preventing the victimization of children and helping the offenders' families become more functional. 1 reference